Shrill Saga Can`t Hold A Big Screen

MOVIE REVIEW - (2 Stars) - Informational box at end of text

January 11, 1991|By CANDICE RUSSELL, Film Writer

How did Not Without My Daughter become a theatrical film rather than a TV movie? It`s shrill, one-sided, and occasionally too silly to be as terrifying as it intends -- perfect low-rent, small-screen fare.

The roots of the story come from the real-life tale of Betty Mahmoody, played by Sally Field as a suppressed Vesuvius of self-righteous feeling. Mahmoody, an American, marries an Iranian-born doctor and settles with their child in Alpena, Mich. But their peaceable life ends with her husband`s desire to visit his homeland.

Despite her hesitation, Betty goes with him and their 4-year-old daughter to Tehran in 1984. Big mistake. Ayatollah Khomeini doesn`t exactly roll out a Persian rug for the family.

The subtitle might have been ``vacation from hell.`` Betty`s loving husband Moody (Alfred Molina, from Prick Up Your Ears) turns into a Koran-quoting monster in a matter of days. He wants the family to stay in Iran forever. When Betty frantically objects, he pummels her with his fists. When she tearfully pleads the justness of her cause to his family, they scream at her in a language she doesn`t understand.

The film is effective as a story of oppression and terror. Betty and daughter Mahtob (Sheila Rosenthal) are made prisoners, forbidden to leave the home of Moody`s sister. There is always someone on watch.

Screenwriter David W. Rintels and director Brian Gilbert prefer hysteria to understatement. The intensity of Betty`s struggle to survive and escape should be allowed to speak for itself. One recalls the restraint in a better-realized film about a panicky mother, Without a Trace with Kate Nelligan.

Instead suspense is diluted by unintentional humor. When Betty makes the mistake of going out in public with her hair uncovered, men with machine guns run toward her. After calming the thundering herd, Moody tells her, ``Honey, you gotta be careful. They`re very strict about the dress code here.``

More troublesome is the issue of accuracy in how Betty`s story is portrayed. In the end credits it is noted that ``certain characters and events have been fictionalized for the purpose of dramatic clarity.``

Which ones? Maybe there was more to the characters than Betty`s saintliness and Moody`s villainy. Or maybe there wasn`t.

For all the barbarism of Iran and its people, there is some compassion shown by a few good men who help Betty reach her goal. The horror of women subjugated to the abuse of men is a potent subplot. This important topic is painfully conveyed by Field, who is especially stirring in scenes with her child.

Though it`s no fault of Field`s, Not Without My Daughter is treadmill filmmaking.

NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER

An American woman travels with her Iranian husband to Iran on vacation, only to learn that he doesn`t want to leave his troubled homeland.

Credits: With Sally Field, Alfred Molina, Sheila Rosenthal, Roshan Seth. Directed by Brian Gilbert. Written by David W. Rintels, based on the book by Betty Mahmoody with William Hoffer.